Greenhouse equipment



Dec. 11, 1934. w. F. NORMAN GREENHOUSE EQUIPMENT Filed Oct. 14, 1935 Patented Dec. 11, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIE.

GREENHOUSE EQUIPMENT William F. Norman, Nevada, Mo. Application October 14, 1933, Serial No. 693,598

sections are turned up at one end thereof to form and end piece 9 as illustrated in Figure 2.

Both the end and center sections are provided with a slip joint at one end, as illustrated in Figures 6 and '7. The other lip end 11 is formed to cooperate with the slip joint of the adjacent section. This is formed to provide a water-proof or leak-proof fold forming a slip joint member 10 and makes the section adaptable for easy assembling and disassembling. Suitable rubber gaskets are used with the slip joint if desired.

The preferred form of seedling flat illustrated is particularly adapted for use with mygreenhouse bench. As illustrated it may seat upon the body portion or bottom of the bench sections or bridge between the portions '7 as particularly illustrated in Figure 8, thus leaving a slight space 12 between the bottom of the bench and the bot tom of the fiat.

The seedling flat form and is provided with corrugations perforations 14 in the bottom thereof.

In my improved green house bench the labor of irrigating the seedling plants is greatly reduced. The flats are arranged within the trough of the bench and water is allowed to enter from the pipe line, or is supplied by hand.

By partially filling the trough to or above the level of the bottom of the flats the water is caused to rise in the soil of the flats.

Without further description it is thought that the features and advantages of my invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and it will of course be understood that changes in the form, proportion, and minor details of construction may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention and scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. Green-house equipment including a bench trough of separable knockdown sections and perforated seedling flats, each section of the bench having its sides turned up and rolled over, each pair of sections having a lip on an end of one section and a fold on an end of the other section, the lip of one fitting the fold of the adjacent section to form a slip joint, the rolled sides joining with the lip and fold respectively to form a continuous trough with a rolled edge, the seedling flats bridging between opposite rolled edges and defining between the trough bottom and the bottom of the seedling flats a space for continuous irrigation throughout the trough.

2. A sheet metal green-house bench trough comprising a plurality of separable sections 5 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in equipment for green houses, and has as an object to provide a novel green house bench adapted to be easily assembled to use with my improved seedling A further object is to provide a green house bench which may be readily packed for shipment, may be easily set up, and readily knocked down and stored during the inactive season.

A still further object is to provide in green house equipment a collapsible bench comprising sections of a form which will retain their original strength and rigidity and are provided with integral means for securing adjacent sections together.

the above and other objects in view as will become apparent as the disclosure proceeds, reference being had to the specification and accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of nLv green house bench with the seedling flat in position for irrigation, in the preferred manner;

Figure 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Figure 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Figure 4. is a detail perspective of a center section of my bench;

Figure 5 is a detail perspective of an end section thereof;

Figure 6 is a detail perspective of a section of bench showing the slip joint; and

Figure '7 is a section on the line 7-7 of Fig. 6, and

Figure 8 is a section on line 8-8 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawing suitable standards 1 are erected or set up in the green-house. Suitable piping 2 is arranged to supply water for the irrigation or the seedling flats on the bench. The bench itself is of separable or knockdown form and comprises generally a plurality of center sections 3 and end sections 4, of sheet metal or the like.

Each center section comprises a body portion 5, either flat or corrugated, and in lengths varying to ten feet. The sides of the section are curved upwardly as at 7 on each side to form a trough with the body portion, and are further rolled as at 8 to insure suitable strength and rigidity; this rolled edge or beading extending from end to end throughout the length of the individual section. When adjacent sections are placed end to end the rolled beading or edge joins the sides of the trough into a continuous rigid element.

Each end section comprises a body portion 5 similar to the center sections and provided at either side with a rolled edge and bead 7 and 8 respectively. In addition to these features the end illustrated is of my preferred 13 and adapted to be assembled end to end to form a watering vat for seedling flats and including end and center sections, said center sections having end slip joints, the end sections having a slip J'oint at one end and a closure at the other, the sides of all sections being curved upwardly to form a trough, the top edge of the upwardly curved sides being rolled downwardly again as a strengthening edge, the slip joint being coextensive with the body portion of the trough, upwardly extending sides, and the downwardly rolled edge.

3. Extensible green-house equipment comprising a plurality of separable sections with slip joint ends, each section having sides turned up and rolled over, the rolled sides extending throughout the length of each section, the rolled edges merging with the slip joints at the ends of each section to form a when assembled.

4. In green-house equipment a watering trough for seedling flats comprising end members and intermediate sections, the end members having each a closed end and a joint end, the intermediate sections having each jointed ends, each element of the trough having a rolled edge which joins the rolled edge of the next section to form a continuous rolled edge throughout the length of the trough.

5. A section for an extensible green-house bench comprising a trough element, a lip extension at one end, a fold at the other end, and rolled-edge sides for the trough extending from end to end thereof, the rolled sides merging at the ends with the lip and with the fold respectively.

WILLIAM F. NORMAN.

continuous rigid trough 

